Tony Blinken, national security adviser to Vice President Biden, said that leaders in Warsaw, Bucharest and Prague should think less of what the U.S. can do for them and more about what they can do with the United States.

A new report published last week shows that American students are lagging behind in math and science and trailing countries like Canada, Czech Republic and China, the National Center for Education Statistics concluded.

Estonia’s defence ministry has announced that two more of its soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan. This brings number of Estonians who gave their lives for Western freedom to six, out of a contingent of 289.

Countries of the former Communist Bloc are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the end of Soviet domination. Russia, after a promising start of opening up about its past under President Boris Yeltsin, has now increasingly adopted a stance of denial.

Tensions are high following a mutiny in the mountainous Caucasian nation of Georgia. Elements of the Mukhrovani tank battalion mutinied this week near the capital, Tbilisi, in circumstances that remain unclear.

According to a British study, the happiest children in Europe live in the Netherlands and in Scandinavian countries. Britain is ranked 24th among 29 countries.

At least 4,146 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March of 2003 according to an Associated Press count.

In its annual “E-Communications Household Survey”, the European Commission highlights trends in telecommunications within the European Union (EU). The report provides an snapshot of a continent in transition, but contains few surprises.